When She Asks
by elektra30
Summary: When she asks, it's not as if she doesn't know the answer.


**When She Asks**

**I. **

_(During 2.08 Furt)_

"Are you and Brittany doing it?"

He arches an eyebrow as Tina stands before him, hands on her hips, eyes blazing – it's a familiar sight, but yet all at once so distant. They're not together anymore, so why should she care?

"But Brittany's so –" Tina clenches her fists. "And you're so –"

_So are you and Mike_, he thinks, but he can't really bring himself to say that.

"I don't understand," she says, and the hint of desperation in her voice makes his insides constrict. "Artie, just... just don't lead her on, okay? I mean..."

He feels the tendrils of rage unfurl within him. So now it's his fault? He led Brittany on? When she had taken his virginity out of a moment of loneliness and he's her rebound after Santana ditched her?

When Tina had decided to dump him for Mike and left him feeling cold, lonely and upset?

He just turns and wheels off, blocking off Tina's calls after him. He doesn't know whose fault it is, so he chooses not to think.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

**II.**

_(During 2.22: New York)_

"Are we friends again?"

Both of them are seated by the fountain near their New York hotel, watching the water spurt into colored streaks against the darkness of night. He dips his hand into the water and is surprised to feel that it's warm. Tina, in contrast, sits huddled up with her knees against her chest, wrapped tightly in her coat, beanie and scarf. Once again, he's not quite sure how to answer her, but he motions for her to feel the warm water.

She acquiesces; a small smile broadens across her apple-cheeked face.

"I'm sorry," she whispers. "I've been pretending all this while like nothing ever happened between us, that we were friends all this while, but I never really got to ask you..."

He flicks a bit of water at her and she gasps. "Artie Abrams! I'm being serious here!"

_So am I_, he thinks, but he continues flicking water at her and gets himself wet too.

The smile on her face that night was like a bobbing moon of happiness, and he remembers that he put it there.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

**III.**

_(During 3.05 The First Time)_

"How was it? Was it good? Was it?"

He understands that the question actually means, _how was I? Was I good? Was I?_

Tina's grown more confident over the years, but every single time she does a number, she always goes to him and asks him what he thinks. He never thinks to sugarcoat his words before her, not even after she threatened to get all up in his grill, because he knows she takes them seriously. He can see it in the next performance, a tiny vocal run, a clearer projection, a little smirk – little nuances that add a whole lot more to what she can deliver.

This time he really can't think of anything else but to give her the most approving smile he can manage. Even as a supporting role, she was clear, feisty, bright, beautiful. Santana brought the house down, but Tina made him feel like he had done a great job as director.

He fingers the petals of the flowers she had presented him with earlier. Yes, it was good indeed.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

**IV.**

_(After 4.01 The New Rachel)_

"Why did you pick Blaine?"

Her soft question is in stark contrast to her hysterical yelling earlier in the choir room. Maybe it was Unique and Brittany's loud protests that had heightened her disappointment, but now, here at the front steps of the school porch, she doesn't look at him and her voice holds a hint of resignation.

He's somewhat glad she doesn't ask him why he didn't pick her. He would never make anything about them personal.

He can't afford to.

"You're a much better person than I am," she murmurs, and he's relieved to hear that – not because he _is_ – but that the kind, humble and sweet Tina he knows is still there underneath the diva attitude. He wants to tell her that they are all as flawed as they should be, but he doesn't want to add salt to her wounds.

He doesn't know whether she's eventually satisfied with the reasoning he gave about picking Blaine, but when she helps him into his car, she says, "Thank you, Artie."

He doesn't know what she's thanking him for, but he's glad to see her smile again.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

**V.**

_(After 5.01 Love, Love, Love)_

"Isn't it beautiful to be proposed to like that?"

It's been a long while since he's gotten a ride from Tina – heck, probably the first one after they broke up – so maybe that's why he feels a little awkward sitting next to her in the car. Or maybe it's the question. Or maybe it's because he's dating Kitty now. He can't really tell, although he has to keep reminding himself that he and Tina are good friends and there shouldn't be anything wrong with that. Kitty doesn't have a license anyway, so that's perfectly good reason.

"You don't think so?"

Wasn't her first question rhetorical?

"C'mon, Artie Abrams," she says with a chuckle, "I'm sure the skeptic in you has plenty to say."

Well, Tina had told Blaine he was insane when he had first come up with the idea. Artie certainly wouldn't be the only person who had plenty to say. Yet, that proposal had shut everyone up properly because there was something so pure, genuine and heartfelt about Blaine's words, and in Kurt's response, that no one questioned it any further.

No, he has nothing to say.

So she changes the question: "Are you happy, Artie?"

The happiness in her voice has drained away and it makes him confused. Well, didn't she think publicising his relationship with Kitty would do the trick? Thinking about that makes him mildly annoyed.

"I'm sorry I sort of, you know, outed you and Kitty in that way," she says, wincing. "But I didn't want her to take you for granted, that she could string you along just because you seemed like an easy target for her. You've... you've had your heart hurt enough times, Artie."

It's then that he realizes.

When she asks, it's not as if she doesn't know the answer. But she wants to hear it from him, she wants to hear it affirmed _from him_, that what other people said was true, that her hunches about him were right, that her concerns about him were well-founded, that her decisions on behalf of him were right, that he had no misconceptions about her.

"The proposal was beautiful," he finally says, "and I am happy."

She slows the car to a stop and looks at him.

And slowly, that familiar bright smile spreads across her face. "Then so am I."

**FINE.**


End file.
